No question Republicans are peeved. One Republican official in Hamilton County, Ohio, Alex Triantafilou, was criticized for crossing the line into tastelessness when he posted an image of Specter, then bald from his chemotherapy treatments for a brain tumor, next to one of the hairless Dr. Evil from the “Austin Powers” movies. He's since replaced it with a photo of a frowning child.

Now, Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Robert A. Gleason Jr. is demanding that Specter return all campaign contributions, no questions asked. On CNN, Gleason said Specter should "do the right thing and proactively return any and all campaign contributions he has received in recent months to run as a Republican in the upcoming election."

Oh, and Gleason thinks Specter should apologize to the state's Republicans for misleading them.

Even if he returned every penny now in his campaign coffers, this is one of those "don't cry for me, Argentina" moments for Specter.

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have promised to campaign for him. Democrats have promised to back him. And, if history is any guide, Democratic donors will soon be filling his campaign funds with cold, green cash.

As the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, after Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party to become an independent in 2001, he refunded about $21,000 to 64 Vermont residents -- and collected $58,000 in donations after the switch, mostly from out of state.